Brotherly Bonds

Three days after Brent was carelessly murdered, Brian and Matt were both back out in the wood yard. Matt watched as Brian ran his hand over his nose, trying to hide the fact that he had been crying over his lost brother again.

“Bri,” Matt started, but his voice trailed off because he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to comfort a man who watched his brother’s body fall two stories out of a window.

“I’m fine Matt, I’m used to the pain,” Brian mumbled, stacking pieces of wood together before tying them with the twine they were given. “I should have been better prepared anyway. These guys don’t give a damn that he was the only family member I had left.”

“That’s not true, you still have me.” Matt sighed. “I don’t know if we can add Johnny to that. Jimmy and Zack I still can’t trust.”

“I know what you mean,” Brian replied back, tossing the wood into a pile and grabbing more. “I want to trust them, but I can’t.”

“Why not?” a voice whispered behind them. Brian and Matt’s heads both whipped around, spotting Zack hiding in the trees behind them.

“W-” Matt started, but Zack shook his head.

“We’ll meet you in your cabin tonight, we’ll explain everything then,” Zack cut him off. “Get back to work before someone gets suspicious.” Zack disappeared back into the trees, leaving the other two confused.

“We?” Brian asked, turning back to Matt. Matt just shrugged as a tall man walked up to them.

“Unless you want to end up like your brother, I suggest you get back to work,” the man said, a sickening smirk on his face.

“Let it go,” Matt whispered sharply as Brian’s grip tightened on the string in his hand. The guard chuckled as he walked on, Brian’s gaze following him, staring daggers into his back.

“I can’t fucking wait for their time to be over,” Brian growled.

“Wait it out Syn,” Matt said gently, which always seemed to calm Brian down enough to get through a task, especially since California was taken over.

The day passed longer than Matt and Brian would have liked. By the time they dragged themselves back to their cabin, Brian instantly collapsed on what used to be Brent’s cot, curling himself into a ball to feel something of the brother that was forced away from him.

“Can we come in?” Zack’s voice asked from the door.

“You’re guards, you’re in,” Matt muttered, walking to sit next to Brian.

“Where’s Brent?” Jimmy asked.

“He’s fucking dead,” Brian replied. “They killed him three days ago and literally threw his body out the window like a sack of garbage.”

“What was their reasoning?”

“Apparently he attacked Garver,” Matt sighed.

“Bullshit, they killed him because I finally put my foot up Garver’s ass,” Brian said, sitting up and leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. “They killed him to make an example for me to see, nobody else but me. Well, lesson not learned. All I fucking want is to see his fucking ass dead. Actually no, that’ll be doing him a favor. I want the both of them to fucking suffer the way we have been for the past fucking years. I want them to be tortured to the brink of death, then let them heal, and do it all over again.”

“Their time is coming Bri,” Zack whispered. “We got Johnny out of here. It took a couple days to get him out, but we got him safe and he’s getting treated. He’ll be back to being his old short shit self in no time.”

“Where is he?”

“LA, they’re not completely taken over, and being guards, we had a few connections we knew we could trust with him.” Jimmy answered, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. “Now we just have to get the two of you out. We were going to bring Brent, but seeing how Garver got to him…”

“Looks like Brian got roughed up a little bit for whatever he said as well,” Zack commented, looking at the other man who was sporting a healing black eye and a few more bruises on his face and hands.

“What did you say to him?”

“That I’m sick and tired of what they’re doing to innocent people over something those people can’t help. I brought up Lincoln and the Civil War that abolished slavery and told him I didn’t give a fuck what he did to me.”

“So he beat the holy hell out of you and killed Brent,” Jimmy finished with a sigh.

“Yep.” Brian said, staring at the ground.

“We’re getting you the hell out of here,” Zack whispered sharply, pushing himself into a straight position.

“We’re not going with you until we know we can trust you again,” Matt snapped. “I don’t give a fuck what they do to me, I’m not going. Johnny needed out, but for all I know you two could have killed him and left him for the buzzards.”

“You have a sick sense of humor Matt,” Jimmy growled as they heard a twig snap.

“Lights out!” was called through the door. Zack felt his nose tickle as they waited for the guard to leave, then sneezed.

“What was that?” the man on the other side asked, banging the door open. He took in the scene and smirked. “Garver will love to see this,” he quickly shut the door and ran to the mansion.

“Get the fuck out of here,” Matt said to Jimmy and Zack.

“No,” Zack said firmly. “I’m just as tired of all this running and bullshit as you two are.” Jimmy watched as everyone tensed. He made a quick decision, and when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps running toward the cabin, he grabbed Zack by the scruff of his neck, threw him under a cot, and gave a warning glare to Brian before giving an apologetic one to Matt.

Just as the door opened, Jimmy threw his fist into Matt’s ribs, forcing him to double over in pain.

“Sullivan? Where the hell have you been? Where’s Baker?”

“I don’t know sir,” Jimmy stated. “We started chasing Seward because he escaped but we got separated. I don’t know what happened to Baker after that.”

“He’s lying,” the guard said, looking around. “I saw Baker myself.”

“Get him in my office,” Garver snapped, glaring at Jimmy. He looked toward Matt and Brian and smirked. “Grab the Indian as well.” Brian glanced at Matt, knowing his fate. He would be joining his little brother in a hole in the ground.

“What the fuck is Jimmy thinking?” Zack snapped as he stood up off the floor. “He’s going to get himself and Brian killed.”

“No, he’s not,” Matt stated, looking back down at Zack. “Because we’re not going to let it happen.” He stormed out of the cabin and toward the mansion, Zack on his heels.

“How are we going to get in there? I’m supposed to be lost and they won’t listen to you.”

“Yes they will, they fucking want me, which is why they never killed me yet. I’ll distract Carlson and Garver, you get Jimmy and Brian the fuck out of there.”

“Why do I get a bad feeling about this?”

“Just do it,” Matt growled as he stormed down a hallway. Zack trailed back to hide himself while Matt walked up to the man.

“I want to see Garver now.”

“The general is occupied at the moment.”

“Tell him it’s Matthew Sanders, and I am here because I changed my allegiances.” Zack heard, and fought back the gasp. Matt was aiming to become a guard?

The guy in front of Matt sighed and walked into the room, leaving Matt alone for a few minutes. He turned to where he knew Zack was hiding, and saw the disapproving look in his green eyes. He shook his head, using his hand in a cutting motion, and quickly snapped back to attention when the door opened.

“He’ll see you,” the man informed Matt, allowing him inside. Matt held back his wince as he looked at Jimmy and Brian tied to chairs. Brian had received the most hell, that was more than obvious.”

“I hear you wish to change allegiances, and why would that be?” Garver asked from his desk.
“I realize now I was wrong to be fighting for so long,” Matt answered. “You are truly going to take over the world, and I wish to remain a part of this world for as long as possible.” Garver smiled and stood up from the chair.

“Walk with me a minute,” Garver said, walking out of the hallway. Zack knew this would be his only chance, so he quickly charged in since the office was left unprotected, and was met with the sight of a very confused Brian and Jimmy.

“What’s Matt doing?” Jimmy demanded.

“Giving his ass to save yours,” Zack whispered to him sharply. “Now get the fuck out of here while you can, I need to help Brian.” Jimmy wobbled out of the room, but waited on Zack to come out with Brian to help. They heard Matt and Garver’s voices coming back down the hall, and quickly went back to where Zack was hiding before. Matt was about to walk into the office again when he looked down the hallway. Zack gave a sign, showing they were safe, and Matt nodded before closing the door.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Zack whispered. He lead the two men out of the mansion, using shortcuts he had learned that were hardly ever patrolled since nobody knew about them.

“No, head for the trees,” Zack said as Brian started heading for the cabin.

“I have something at the cabin,” Brian growled, ignoring Zack and continuing through the door. He went to his cot and lifted the barely there mattress, grabbing the item he had managed to save and went back outside, following Jimmy and Zack into the trees.

“What did you grab?” Jimmy asked. Brian held it up, and the guilt weighed down on Jimmy and Zack even more. He had grabbed a picture. It was of Brian’s family, with Matt, Jimmy, Zack and Johnny standing with the group.

“You kept this?” Zack asked, astonished by his friends caring ways.

“Of course, it reminded me of happier times,” Brian shrugged, leaning his back against a tree. They heard a commotion, and watched as Matt was dragged back to the cabin.

“I better go get him,” Zack sighed, waiting until the coast was clear before rushing into the cabin. Matt was breathing heavily on his cot, but looked up as he heard the door opening.

“Where are they?”

“In the woods,” Zack whispered his answer. “We have to get you out there. Can you walk?” Matt nodded and stood up, wincing as pain shot through his ribs. He followed Zack through the trees and into a small clearing, where Jimmy and Brian was still sitting, waiting for them to show up.

“Let’s get going,” Zack told them all, holding out a hand to Brian. Brian stared at the hand for a minute before he took it into his own, accepting the offering Zack was giving him. Matt held his own hand down to Jimmy, who took it without a moment’s hesitation.

“Let’s go get short ass,” Jimmy smiled, standing up and towering over everyone else.

“Bri, I’m sorry about Brent.” Jimmy said, catching up to Brian.

“Don’t be, I knew it would happen sooner or later,” Brian shrugged.

“From what I heard, it was more than just you being told he was killed.”

“That fucking Garver threw his body out the window,” Brian growled, his hands balling into fists at his side. The image of Brent falling was burned into Brian’s mind, and he knew it would remain that way until the day he died.

“I want to kill him,” Brian muttered.

“We all do,” Jimmy admitted. “Don’t think it was cake walk for us you two. We had to watch you guys get beaten and struggle to survive, but it was more than that. We were beaten ourselves.”

“If we didn’t follow a direct order, we got beaten, probably worse than you guys.” Zack added, glancing up at Matt.

“We tried to hide everyone for as long as we could, but it wasn’t us who turned our families in. It was other guards who found them.” Jimmy sighed, stopping as he turned to face Matt. “I know that’s what pissed you off the most. We never betrayed our families. We tried to save everyone, but it was other people who found them. We had no choice but to watch as they were taken from us all.”

“I know that now, I’m sorry.” Matt whispered, continuing to walk again. They walked through the trees until the sun started coming up. Around that time, they came up to the cave Jimmy and Zack had hidden in with Johnny.

“We’ll stay here for the day,” Zack said.

“You sure?” Jimmy asked, hesitating slightly as Matt and Brian made their way inside.

“It’s deep, we can hide in it if someone comes looking for us,” Zack mumbled back to him.

“Why so nervous? It’s hidden,” Brian pointed out.

“We stayed in this cave with Johnny the first night,” Jimmy explained, sitting next to Brian on the rocky ground.

“I’ll keep first watch,” Zack said, sitting at the opening of the cave.

“We should get some rest, we have a long journey ahead of us.” Jimmy sighed.